By Jake Gardner, MMOABC Staff Writer

The recent success of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures got me thinking about Mythology in video games. Age of Conan isn’t directly based of mythology, but it is based off of a character by Robert E. Howard, and it pulls its roots from Mythology.



Many games today reference Mythology, mostly when creating character names. In Starcraft, four of the six Zerg Broods are named after Norse Mythology characters: Fenris, Garm, Jormungand, and Surtur. Starcraft pulls these classical roots to use an ancient source for the futuristic destruction.

Eve Online has many ship classes named after Norse Mythology characters. These include the Ragnarok-class Titan, the Sleipnir-class Command Ship, the Einherji fighter drone, the Fenrir-class Freighter, and the Nidhoggur-class Carrier. Eve Online uses these references to show the power of the Norse gods within the ships.

Final Fantasy also has many characters named after mythological icons; which are used to show the classical roots of the fantasy type game. They also base characters off of gods to show the relationship they have to ancient roots.

Age of Mythology has many different mythological scenarios that can be played corresponding to different time periods that are particular to specific mythological origin; one may be Greek and the next Norse.

Ragnarok Online is based directly off of Norse mythology; containing all elements of the mythology including stories and quests. In Norse mythology, Ragnarok was the day when the gods would fight one another and destroy the world.

Many games also use it in smaller amounts. In both Max Payne games there are characters named after mythological icons and also in the Halo series the main characters armor is named the Mjolnir-Series, referencing Thor’s mighty hammer.

One of the biggest examples of Norse mythology in a game is the upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive, Too Human. In this game you take the form of Baldur who is the second son of Odin. In Too Human the Norse Gods did exist in the past, but only as cybernetically enhanced humans. Many of the major gods will be featured in this game. The gods are trying to stop a machine army from taking over the world by finding more cybernetic parts to supplement their powers, while the machines are trying to find blood and limbs to become more human.

Mythology is a popular form of storytelling, so it is ideal for usage in games. Many stories are bloody, funny, or a combination and both are good mediums for games. Mythology is a game theme that is not likely to end anytime soon.